Can I Really Make Money at My Life Purpose?

"Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things" Dennis DiderotI have gotten the question lately "Can I really make money at my life purpose--my passion?" And my answer is YES! I remember hearing about a study that compared people who followed a career path to strictly make money vs. people who followed their passion. At the end of their careers the people that had followed their passion made more money overall than the folks who had pursued a career just for the money. I remember when I was contemplating what to study in college-- my own fears had initially prevented me from pursuing the counseling field because of fears of not being able to make money. I had watched some of my family members struggle financially and didn't want to have that same kind of experience. After getting my degree in business--I decided after a long process of soul searching to follow my passion of being a psychotherapist. Every step of the way since then I have continued to follow my passion--in the face of someone saying I could make more money doing it a different way. An example of this is when I was contemplating graduate schools I had 3 choices--getting a degree in psychology, counseling or social work. Everyone advised me to get my degree in social work because it would be more "marketable" and insurance companies would be more apt to reimburse someone with this degree. I looked at the content of all of the programs and decided the counseling program was more in alignment with what I was looking for. It was hands on--with lots of practice counseling. The social work program didn't have as much of this and focused more on social policy. I decided to do what felt intuitively right to do and I am so glad I did! The counseling program that I went to was a perfect fit for me--I loved the program, my classmates and I met one of my most important mentors, Pat Robertson. And ironically my practice for the last 11 years has been mostly self-pay--with a handful of people using their insurance. So the issue of insurance reimbursement is a mute point. There is something inside of us--in our Authentic Self that is aligned with our true path. When we follow this we will be supported. It means keeping ourselves inwardly focused and making decisions on our what feels intuitively right to us. It took me a year of personal growth work after I had gotten my business degree to connect deeply with my Authentic Self. Once I did and got clear about my path I took action and never looked back. Here are some tips on how to make money at your Life Purpose: -->Stay with it and persevere. If it is your passion you are more likely to hang in there and do the work you need to do to be successful. And best of all, because it is your passion--it won't feel like work:) -->If you have a full-time job and want to pursue your passion start developing it part-time and once you are making enough money with you passion you can quit your job! -->Be willing to learn from others who are successful doing what your passion is. If you say---there is no way I could make money at my passion---I bet there is someone out there who is---find them and learn from them. -->Be willing to invest in your personal growth as you pursue your passion. The more you let go of limiting, conditioned beliefs the more your career will flourish. -->Be willing to release limiting beliefs around money. Read books, take workshops to help yourself be free of beliefs that would limit how much money you make. The only limits are what you place on yourself. -->Be willing to develop skills as a business person if you are pursuing your passion as a business. Treat it like a business and learn all the aspects of what it takes to run a successful business. -->Be willing to self-promote. Let people know what your passion is and that you are good at it. Believe in yourself and your gifts----you have them for a reason---and that is to share these gifts with others. -->As your business expands, hire an assistant. Don't try to do it all yourself---get support for yourself. Here is to you following your passio AND being prosperous.